The final men’s major of the year is here, and it’s at one of the great venues. The 154th Open Championship runs Thursday to Sunday, 16–19 July, at Royal Birkdale on England’s north-west coast — with Scottie Scheffler defending the Claret Jug and a Southport local leading the home charge.
The storylines
Scheffler arrives as world No 1 and defending champion after his win at Royal Portrush last summer, chasing the first back-to-back Opens since Padraig Harrington nearly two decades ago. The sentimental pick is Tommy Fleetwood — born and raised in Southport, he grew up playing these dunes, and no Englishman has won The Open since Nick Faldo in 1992. Aaron Rai’s PGA Championship win in May means England actually arrives with a reigning major champion; Fitzpatrick, Rose and Hatton round out a serious home contingent.
Why Birkdale is box office
Royal Birkdale’s fairways run through valleys between huge dunes, which does two things: it gives spectators natural amphitheatres, and it keeps the bounces fair — pros consistently rank it the best links on the rota. It’s produced champions from Peter Thomson to Jordan Spieth, whose 2017 escape-act win here was an all-timer. If the wind gets up off the Irish Sea, scoring gets brutal fast.
Coverage times
Sky Sports Golf has wall-to-wall UK coverage: from 6:30 AM BST Thursday and Friday (15+ hours each day), 9:00 AM Saturday, and 8:00 AM for Sunday’s final round. Four featured groups run daily on the app and Sky Sports+. US viewers get NBC, USA Network and Peacock across the four days — with the early UK tee times meaning golf from breakfast onwards on the East Coast.
No Sky subscription? The free stream linked above carries the world feed for all four rounds. And note the Sunday collision: The Open’s final round runs into the F1 Belgian Grand Prix at 2 PM BST and the World Cup final at 8 PM — the single biggest day of the sporting summer.